Review: Unspeakable (Deadly Secrets #4)

Unspeakable (Deadly Secrets #4)

by Elisabeth Naughton 

Blurb:

All his siblings have moved on from their troubling pasts, but Rusty McClane can’t leave his behind. Not even when his freedom is in jeopardy.

Legal investigator Harper Blake can sense a bad boy. She’s drawn to them—like she is to her mysterious and brooding new client. The police believe that Rusty is involved with the case of a missing underage girl. Harper’s job is to find evidence to defend him. But is her sexy suspect a predator…or something else?

If Rusty is guilty of anything, it’s of stirring something primitive in Harper. The closer they get, the harder it is to believe the worst of him.

But in an underworld filled with sex trafficking, kidnapping, and murder, Harper will need to be cautious about whom she trusts. Because Rusty isn’t the only one with secrets.

Themes: Contemporary

Rating: 4.25 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

Finally we learn all the secrets of Rusty that have been hinted at in the previous novels of this series and boy, oh, boy did I not see this one coming.  Rusty is the final sibling in the family of kids that were rescued in one way or another by the McClane’s in their times of needs as children and adopted into a family that truly taught them about love.  But unlike his siblings, Rusty never really gave up on his belief that he was responsible for a lot of the trauma in his past and he will risk his own life to protect those that are in a situation they just can’t handle.  While I imagine we might see a story down the line about the newest and now youngest sibling, recently adopted into the family, I suspect this will be the finale for the next little while at least and it certainly goes out with a bang.  Rusty and Harper’s relationship is fraught with danger, drama, misconceptions, and the intermingling of decades of secrets that neither of them even knew to look for.  I LOVED every second of this story even if I wondered just where this one was going to take us.  Rusty has landed himself in some trouble with the police and now he finds himself the lead person of interest in missing person’s case, and fearing him being steamrolled his parents have enlisted the help of his old lawyer.  Harper, still smarting from her own scandal and reeling from the loss of her career, finds herself part of Rusty’s defense team, but her detective instincts won’t let go of her as she looks into his story.  Soon they are both caught up in the danger and intrigue of Rusty’s extracurricular actives and the deadly killers stalking them both are determined that they both go down—hard. When the truth begins to unravel around them, only the trust in their new fragile friendship and the passion between them can keep them from unraveling as well, otherwise neither of them might survive the men after them. Rusty is not the man we all think he is, but the more we get to know him the more I came to love him.  He is strong, caring, sweet, and passionate, even if he takes on more responsibility for the actions of others than he should, but that very trait of chivalry is what made him such a great character.  While he is definitely closed off and unwilling to open his heart in the beginning, it soon becomes obvious that the pain of his past is what drives him and that Harper is just the woman to open him up. Harper is obviously cynical after the way her life has shaped up recently, but as she begins to see the goodness in Rusty and understand that their truly are good people in the world still, she slowly becomes a more likeable character.  Luckily she doesn’t lose any of her edge or intensity because that is what makes her sass and sweetness the perfect foil for the darkness in Rusty.  I enjoyed seeing these two coming together and learning how to handle one another, work together, and find a way to accept one another’s flaws and differences.  The passion between them is undeniable, but it is the sweetness and their ability to find the goodness in each other despite the evidence to the contrary that makes it so enjoyable to watch them find their love.  I am looking forward to seeing if and when Thomas does get his own book someday, but for now, Rusty and Harper finding their HEA is more than enough closure for me on this amazing series and I look forward to whatever Elisabeth brings to us next.

*ebook provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.